Beer line announced by Norwalk brewer

By LESLIE LAKEHour Staff Writer

Published 1:01 pm, Thursday, June 14, 2012

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NEW CANAAN--For the past 30 years, P. Scott Vallely of New Canaan has been a businessman with a hobby of brewing beer. As his expertise and interest evolved Vallely has plunged into the business of micro-brewing and is rolling out the first of his craft beer offerings throughout Connecticut.

"I'd brew beer in my basement from beer kits," said Vallely. "it was pretty awful beer. About 10 years ago the internet opened up a whole world of craft beer brewing and I purchased various varieties of hops, barley, yeast, stainless steel filtration systems. That made all the difference."

Brewing beer at home 10 gallons at a time, Vallely developed recipes that gave his beer variations in color, bitterness, and alcohol. Around the time he perfected his craft beers, he felt that his career as an owner of paper company was "no longer fun" and decided to concentrate on craft beer brewing.

"There are a lot of business people that are into beer, and there are a lot of beer guys that don't have a business sense. I'm fortunate to have both," he said.

Vallely started the Charter Oak Brewing Company, L.L.C. and is releasing his first style, the 1687 Brown Ale on June 18.

In addition to the Brown Ale, Vallelly will be producing flagship Ales that will be available year round; and four seasonal beers, including a Porter for the fall; a Stout for the winter; a summer Kolsch and a Dubbel for the spring. All of his products will be available for sale only in Connecticut.

The Charter Oak Brewing Company name pays homage to the legend of the Charter Oak tree and its significance in Connecticut's and United States' history. Legend has it that in 1662, the Connecticut colony, which was owned and governed by England was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II. The Charter permitted colonists to make some of their own rules and elect officials. Upon Charles' death in 1685, his brother King James II demanded the Charter's return. Colonists steadfastly refused to give up the Charter and it was taken in dark of night and hidden in the trunk of a huge oak tree, where it remained protected from the King.

"This is definitely a Connecticut-centric beer," Vallely said. "The colonists believed in what they were doing. They were stubborn and determined."

And in what may be a metaphor for a micro-brewery competing against behemoth beer producers Vallely added, "This is a tribute to the little guy that believes in what he's doing and will not be put down."

What constitutes craft beer and how is it different from beer made by the major producers?

"Volume is a large part of the difference. It's the difference between going to a small bakery and buying from Hostess," he said. "What interesting is that a company like Budweiser can brew beer all over the country and world, using different water and it all tastes the same."

Another difference between craft beer and larger breweries is the freshness of the product.

"Sun and oxidation are beer's biggest enemies," he said. "They degrade the taste profile. No more than six months from brewing should pass before drinking the beer. You won't get sick from drinking older beer, but the consistency of the taste and body are affected."

Brewing a batch of beer takes Vallely about 10 hours per day. Citing the importance of sterilization, the actual brewing takes about six hours, and the remainder of time is spent cleaning and ensuring a sterile environment.

"Hand-crafting is more art than science. I could give my recipe to anyone and if they follow it exactly, it will still taste different from mine. For example there are over 200 varieties of barley in the U.S., 80 different hops and then there are hybrids," Vallely said. " All of that changes the taste and body of beer. I contol all of that at the brewery."

Catering to what he calls "beer geeks," Vallely includes certain values on his packaging, ABV, IBU and SRM.

"ABV is Alcohol by volume. My beers have an ABV of 5 ½ to 6 1/2 , which would characterize them as session beers," he said. "These are beers that you could drink all nigh long. IBU is the International bitterness unit. The bitterness is adjusted with hops and is also determined by when in the brewing process the hops are added. SRM is the Standard Reading Method, which puts value on lightness to darkness. For example a brown ale has an SRM between 24 and 27 and a stout would be around 40."

In addition to the release of the 1687 Charter Oak Brown Ale, Vallely has released the names of all his other styles:

Charter Oak IPA (India Pale Ale) beer is described as a "West Coast style IPA with plenty of hop armona and bitterness, yet crisp, refreshing and not over the top."

Charter Oak Royal Pale Ale is described as: "the little brother to IPA but still brewed with plenty of flavor and hops, Solidly an American Pale Ale style, not too sweet and not too bitter, but complex enough to not disappoint."

Charter Oak ESB (Extra Special Bitter) is a British styled session beer with a fairly strong hop scent, flavor and bitterness, wil tones of sweetness from our specialty malted barley."

With an initial goal of opening a brewery in Southwestern Connecticut, Vallely researched spots throughout the state and eventually landed a spot in Holyoke, Massachusetts for his initial run.

"The brewer in Massachusetts in terrific, he will get hold of me if there are any issues with temperatures, gravity readings, mash-ups, contaminants," said Vallely. "I bring in my own hops, barley, yeast, water, my own bottles, bottle caps. I use his tanks, his fermentation and filtration system and bottling line. My plan is to build a brewery in this section of Connecticut eventually."